University education facilitates uptake of disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis: A community-based study using the UK MS Register.

BACKGROUND: Higher education is associated with better job opportunities and higher income. OBJECTIVES: Herein, the impact of education on the uptake of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) in a publicly funded health care system was examined using the UK MS Register. METHODS: All adult participants with relapsing remitting MS diagnosed between 2008 and 2021 were included. Those without data regarding their education levels were excluded. Binary, multinomial and Cox regression models were used to examine the association between education levels and uptake of DMTs. RESULTS: A total of 6317 participants fulfilled all inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 1826/2923 (62%) participants with a university education were treated with DMTs, compared to 1788/3394 (53%) participants with school/diploma received DMTs with an odds ratio of 1.318 (1.178-1.473). Participants with a university education were more likely to be treated with both moderate- and high-efficacy DMTs, compared to others, with odds ratios of 1.227 (1.087-1.385) and 1.545 (1.325-1.802), respectively. University education was also a positive predictor for faster initiation of DMTs, and, importantly, higher-efficacy DMTs. CONCLUSION: In a publicly funded health care system, despite intended equality of access, university education was associated with a higher uptake of DMTs.

The association between deprivation and the access to disease modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis: An England wide community-based study in the UK MS Register.

BACKGROUND: Deprivation can impact the access to health interventions in publicly funded health systems where cost is not the dominant barrier. In this study we examined whether deprivation affected the access to disease modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: All English adults on the UK MS register with relapsing remitting MS who were diagnosed between 2010 and 2017, and after the age of 29 years were included. Deprivation was measured using postcode-based 2015 English index of multiple deprivation (IMD), which was divided into quintiles. RESULTS: A total of 1449 participants were eligible and 531/1449 (36.6%) received DMTs. Participants who lived in more deprived areas, based on their IMD scores, were significantly less likely to receive DMTs (odds ratio = 0.69, 95% Confidence interval = 0.49 to 0.98); barriers to housing and services contributed to this disparity. The Nagelkerke R2 value of these models showed that 2% of variation in accessing DMTs were dependant on deprivation. CONCLUSIONS: Deprivation, as measured by IMD, negatively influences the access to DMTs in England. Our findings also suggest that the lack of access to local MS DMT clinics in deprived areas may contribute to this disparity.